New research at ECIO 2024

June 5, 2024

Scientific research marches forward, and interventional oncology continues to push the envelope of what is possible in both curative and palliative treatments for cancer patients. Each year, ECIO hosts several sessions and lectures that emphasize the vital part that ongoing research and trials play to the future in the discipline.

Meet the PI: upcoming research

Now a cornerstone of the programme, ECIO includes a full session dedicated to catching up with the primary investigators of new and upcoming studies and trials. This year’s “Meet the PI” session, moderated by P. Reimer and F. Collettini, featured eight PIs at the forefront of IO research across Europe.

G. Cazzato presents on BOREALIS

M. Lam presents on the RALLY study

M. Meijerink speaks on the CROSSFIRE trial results

The newest CIRSE-sponsored study from Next Research, CIRSE’s contract research organization, was presented by instigator and primary investigator G. Cazzato during this session. The BOREALIS study is a prospective registry on cryoablation of bone metastasis with curative intent. Dr. Cazzato explained his motivation: “When I was in the tumour board and we were trying to get patients for bone ablation with curative intent, there was always a radiation therapist stepping up and getting the patients. But if we look retrospectively at the literature, you can see that the rates of local tumour control that we get with cryoablation for bone mets are quite high!” Enrolment is expected to begin in January 2025.

Other upcoming and ongoing trials presented during the session included INJECTABL-1, the PM-CARE study, the HAITY trial, RALLY study, and PROMETHEUS study.

The final results of the CROSSFIRE trial were presented by M. Meijerink during the session. This trial was a randomized controlled phase II/III trial comparing SABR and CT-guided percutaneous IRE for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Though the trial did not identify a difference in overall survival or incidence of adverse events between MRI-guided SABR and CT-guided percutaneous irreversible electroporation after FOLFIRINOX, “there is some hope, because we do have responders and I think that’s what we should be looking for in this disease with a terrible prognosis.”

M. Erinjeri speaks on the mRECIST assessment of EMERALD-1

M. Casares Santiago and C. Binkert moderate the “Best at ECIO” session

A. Denys presents on EuroLVD

Best at ECIO: incoming evidence for liver tumours

Another research-dedicated session titled “Best at ECIO” focused exclusively on incoming evidence for liver tumours.

A current hot topic, the results of the EMERALD-1 study were discussed several times throughout the congress. During this session, M. Erinjeri presented an analysis of evaluating the efficacy of the EMERALD-1 treatment regimens as assessed by mRECIST. “These results [overall trial results] were assessed by RECIST 1.1, but as interventional radiologists, we know that the enhancement of the tumour is a very important endpoint to take a look at, and that is usually assessed by mRECIST.” He concluded that EMERALD-1 met its primary endpoint, that his data confirmed the data when assessed by mRECIST, and that this research has the potential to set a new standard of care in embolization-eligible untestable HCC.

The preliminary results from EuroLVD, the international registry on liver venous deprivation, were presented by A. Denys. Liver venous deprivation (LVD) is a recently developed method to reach maximal liver hypertrophy before major hepatectomy. It combines simultaneous portal and ipsilateral hepatic vein embolization. With a cohort of 216 patients, EuroLVD is the largest LVD registry to date. The preliminary data shows that LVD has a high technical success rate with few post-procedural complications and significant kinetic growth and that major hepatectomy after LVD appears to be safe. Inclusion is ongoing, and Prof. Denys encouraged new centres to apply. Further studies are to be published soon.

Other trials and studies in the session included BIOPEARL-ONE, AmCORE, and PROACTIF.

Many more research-focused lectures took place at the congress – Content from ECIO 2024 is now availabe via the CIRSE Library.